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S06.E11: Renee's Story


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40 minutes ago, Stusan said:

Speaking of some sort of boulder holder, I've often wondered why someone has never made custom slings (for lack of a better word) for people's lymphademas. There have been several lymphademas where they are hanging in such a way that it would seem that you could make a holster that would at least allow your back and shoulders to take the brunt of the load versus having it swing and pull the skin and pull you down. 

Maybe there's a new business in my future. 

Nope.  I wouldn't want to deal with the people!

I think the guy with the huge scrotum wore a sweatshirt as pants to hold it up off the ground. Something of that nature.

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55 minutes ago, Mswldflwr said:

Participant, contender, case study, player, entrant, contestant, challenger, hopeful, applicant, wanna-be.

I refer to them as patients. Because besides being on a reality show, they are, at the core of this, patients of Dr. Now.

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13 hours ago, WonTon said:

Is she on some kind of drugs? She seems so out of it and slurring words?!?!? And, please TLC replace that therapist. Her Betty Boop voice drives me nuts!

Edited by 4N6MAL
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13 hours ago, WonTon said:

Is she on some kind of drugs? She seems so out of it and slurring words?!?!? And, please TLC replace that therapist. Her Betty Boop voice drives me nuts!

At first I didn't like the therapist, Lola. But she grew on me and she is pretty too!

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One think I like about Dr. Now is that when he's talking about hospital stays, he says, "We." "We got her weight down." In doing so, he always gives full credit to the rest of his staff, nurses, physical therapists, etc. It shows humility. He's a really nice man! Not all doctors are this way.

Renee does have a zany sense of humor. 

I'm just now getting to the part where she is talking about her past. Very sad.

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On 3/22/2018 at 8:23 AM, suzeecat said:

For most of the show she seemed very "out of it".  Her eyes didn't focus, her mouth gaped open, she didn't really speak in sentences or even words at times, just "uh-huh" or "yuh".  I think maybe there was some "acting" going on, but by the end she was much more with it.  

During the live chat, there was speculation that she had had a stroke.  I don't think it was quite that bad, but she definitely wasn't well at the beginning.  Dr. Now did say her health was very poor.  I wonder if we literally saw someone who was at death's door get snatched back from it at the last second.

 

23 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

The fall in the cab looked fake to me and I think her son knew that too.  She didn't want to face Dr. Now and the fact she wasn't following the diet nor the therapy, so that was her way out.  But, it backfired and she had to face it anyway.  She didn't really injure her laaag. 

 

I noticed that, as soon as she got back into the house, she walked all the way to her bed on her "severely injured leg."  I think  you're right that she didn't want to face the doctor.  

17 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

I had noticed the thin ankles too and was very surprised.

 

I have so many questions about her ankles!  How are they so tiny?!  How do they hold her up?!  I'm not trying to make fun of her.  Just genuinely curious.  

12 hours ago, LordOfLotion said:

You don't have to meet them in person. Some of them just like to watch you eat... or whatever. These guys will order food for the obese women to watch them eat it. If they want to see the women eat pancakes, they will pay for pancakes. They will buy the outfits for the women to wear while they eat the food. I'm sure they will watch other men being squished, and the women will do it, all for a small fee. Use your imagination.

:(  I'd rather not, thanks.

I missed the first part of the episode.  When people were talking about "squashing," I got a little afraid that they were talking about those videos were people squish small animals or something.  

11 hours ago, Ravenna said:

 

i liked Renee. She was always polite and seemed grateful for any help. There were glimpses humour when she said that “Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was my bikini body.” Or when Dr. Now asked her on the day of the surgery if she was rested, and she said, “Did YOU get some rest? That’s the main thing” ?

 

Like I said, I think her health was REALLY bad at the beginning.  Once she got better, her brain fog cleared and she was actually kind of sharp.  I did a complete 180 on her by the end of the episode.  She made me laugh and I hope she succeeds.  

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I was fascinated by Renee.  The teaser was "plus-size model"--yeah, right.  We got to learn about "eatees"--which actually did not surprise me; there is sizable online presence interested in seeing women fart on cakes--google it if you don't believe me--so food fetishes are a little ho-hum.  But when I heard "squashers" I was terrified that she was going to say she sat on puppies or kittens, and I'm still not sure that that isn't a thing.

When Renee said at the end that it had been years since...I was sure she was going to say, as many of them do, years since she'd been able to shop for clothes.  But years since she'd been in a bookstore!  How wonderful.  She was not a stupid person; she made lots of dry little jokes throughout, most of which Dr. Now didn't catch.  "Rome wasn't built in a day--and neither was my bikini body" is one I recall.

All of her children had such low voices--when I first heard Monique, I was unsure of her gender.  She is slim and flat-chested, and I wondered if she were trans.  Then I heard all the other kids talk and they all have those deep voices.

I noticed Dr. Now didn't go into his standard shaming of the care-givers about Renee's eating habit.  I think it must've been clear that they were burned out and maybe hopeless about their mom's health.  At the end, her son was lovely--he was so thankful to Dr. Now--"thank you for giving me my mom back"--and I hope that her success gave them all a boost.

Her breasts really are a problem.  I don't think it was lymphedema; breasts are fatty tissue, and that's where she's carrying a lot of her fat.

I think she wasn't using the wheelchair footrests at the beginning because the fat in her thighs made it impossible for her to bend her legs at a 90 degree angle--I don't think she could get her feet on the footrests.

And at last Dr. Now uses hyrotherapy!

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13 hours ago, LordOfLotion said:

You don't have to meet them in person. Some of them just like to watch you eat... or whatever. These guys will order food for the obese women to watch them eat it. If they want to see the women eat pancakes, they will pay for pancakes. They will buy the outfits for the women to wear while they eat the food. I'm sure they will watch other men being squished, and the women will do it, all for a small fee. Use your imagination.

I know the eating is not done in person, but the squashing has to be done in person. My point was do they have to travel to get to her to squash them and how many of them. They get off on being squashed so therefore both people have to be in the same place.

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I liked Renee as well, & her son was sweet, coming alongside to support her, thanking Dr. Now, etc. Renee seemed very thankful as well. Given her struggles her sense of humor probably helped pull her through, & I do believe Dr. Now enjoyed that side of her. I wish the best for her & her family & hope for good follow ups.

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Dr. Nowzaradan: why didn’t you tell me you were feeling sick? 

Renee: I thought it was malnutrition from my diet. 

Dr Nowzaradan: if you were on your diet you would lose a lot more than 8 pounds in a month. 

That man is a saint. I don’t know how he keeps a straight face sometimes. And that taxi scene was totally fake. She wanted to 1) avoid getting weighed and 2) Put on a show for her son so that he would be obliged to stay and take care of her. 

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1 minute ago, ElderPrice said:

That man is a saint. I don’t know how he keeps a straight face sometimes. And that taxi scene was totally fake. She wanted to 1) avoid getting weighed and 2) Put on a show for her son so that he would be obliged to stay and take care of her. 

And when she said she had injured her leg, didn't Dr. Now inspect it carefully and found no injury?

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Those breasts made my chest ache!  I cannot imagine what her cup size would be if she wore a bra, but having those large boulders pressing on her chest can’t be comfortable! 

At the beginning of this episode they showed her feet and I sear, the toenails looked like talons! Your toenails aren’t supposed to I k on the floor like a dog’s...

All in all, I really liked her and was happy to see her get on track. I also wish the best for her children who gave up much of their own lives to care for their mother. 

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9 minutes ago, PradaKitty said:

At the beginning of this episode they showed her feet and I sear, the toenails looked like talons! Your toenails aren’t supposed to I k on the floor like a dog’s..

Did anyone else notice that the polish on her toes stayed the same for the first few months? The camera seemed to pick it up a few times. Ewwwwwwwww

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53 minutes ago, ElderPrice said:

Did anyone else notice that the polish on her toes stayed the same for the first few months? The camera seemed to pick it up a few times. Ewwwwwwwww

Many of the female patients featured on this show have freshly manicured fingernails. It is striking to me because they say that they haven't left the house in ages. 

I look away when they show the feet. The toenails are often long and gross. 

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I think the word for the subject of the week should be "protagonist". If this seems too hoity-toity for our guilty pleasure show, let me point out that it bestows dignity on the person; my second choice, "subject", might be okay but might be too objectifying. When the ancient Greeks used "protagonist" for the main character in a play, its literal meaning was sort of "first arguer"-- an agon was a conversation with argument or opposition in it.  Well, the protagonists on this show do a lot of arguing, and also, to proceed to the more modern meaning of that root, have a lot of agony.

Hmm-- I seem to have different aesthetic standards than some people on the Live Chat thread. I thought both Renee's daughter and her son were really good-looking, in the same way. What great bone structure, in each case! I was eager to see if Renee herself would turn out to have that bone structure underneath all the fat, but we never got to see if this is true. It seems to show, in any case, that she did it to herself with no help from any genetic tendency toward overweight. No, wait a minute, though, those awful breasts were not passed on; maybe the kids just took after the abusive father, in body though not in soul.

Yes, please God, breast reduction!!!!!

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When Renee was leaving the hospital near the end, I think it was after the surgery, several people came in and wheeled out her out. One of the men had a mask on in the room initially, then when they were down in the garage / parking lot, all of the people had masks on. I wonder if this was because she had a terrible odor. If so, didn't the nurses bathe her while she was in the hospital?

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On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 8:36 PM, mmecorday said:

Wow! I think this is the first time we've ever seen someone visit a bookstore on this show!

I'm sure her large breasts caused her a great deal of pain. I don't think I've ever seen natural breast that big.

Again, I thought she was going to be awful, but I ended up liking her. And I liked the fact that her son thanked Dr. Now for helping her.

It was wonderful to see how excited she was to visit the bookstore.  It gave me a very different view of who she is and made me realize how little we learned about who she is as a person.

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2 hours ago, SDVegas said:

I wonder if this was because she had a terrible odor. If so, didn't the nurses bathe her while she was in the hospital?

I can't imagine that she wouldn't have been bathed in the hosptial.

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23 hours ago, essexjan said:

When my friend came back in with the tea she said "that's a sad piece of music, what is it, Schubert?"

Me: "No, that's the tune they play on "My 600-lb Life" when the patient has put on weight and Dr. Now is mad at them."

Friend: "What. The. Fuck."

This wins the day!
You should watch with closed captions on, because they'll always try to describe the music.  I don't know that I've had it on, on this, more often when the suspect has his head down during the interrogation, and is muttering in The First 48.
And TLC doesn't seem to describe the music, at least in the one that I was watching.  A&E and ID both do, I think.
I've seen "creepy music" on some shows.

Edited by auntjess
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I did not see that coming. When Renee was going it alone in that dreary Houston apartment, I thought she was a goner. She melted my bitter, black heart by the end. Thanking Dr. Now for not giving up on her! And 200+ pounds down in a year. Are you watching, Penny?

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On 3/22/2018 at 9:22 PM, Stusan said:

Speaking of some sort of boulder holder, I've often wondered why someone has never made custom slings (for lack of a better word) for people's lymphademas.

Hmm.  Maybe something like the heavy canvas bags that the newsboys carried, the ones who sold papers on the street.7fc981f008b089a127d283292ee8c0f6--philad

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On 3/22/2018 at 5:50 PM, kicotan said:

This was one of the saddest episodes I've seen.  All around.  I felt sorry for her for her situation and equally as sorry for her kids for having to deal with her situation,  more than most.  Maybe it is because she didn't seem too bright to begin with, I don't know.

How she managed to only lose 8 pounds in two months on her own was pretty amazing, unless they didn't film the take-out she had delivered, but that whole deal about her kidney failure and heart failure and not being able to breathe~my goodness, if that isn't a wake up call to stop stuffing your face with KFC, what is?

I agree -- it was a sad episode for many reasons.

I'm wondering if the kidney and heart failure were causing fluid retention which affected the weight loss. It's not uncommon for patients with congestive heart failure to be on some sort of drug to drain excess fluid from the body due to that condition.

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When Renee called Dr. Now from the car, she told him she wasn't on any medication.  Later in the show, there was a bag of medicine bottles on her bed, so either she lied or that changed somewhere along the way.  The woman melted my heart when she smiled while doing the water aerobics, and I liked her from then on.

Edited by Miss Ruth
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On 3/23/2018 at 9:33 AM, Mothra said:

I think she wasn't using the wheelchair footrests at the beginning because the fat in her thighs made it impossible for her to bend her legs at a 90 degree angle--I don't think she could get her feet on the footrests.

Ah!  Now that makes sense! The sick people I see in the hospital aren't morbidly obese, they can bend their legs and use the foot rests. Perfect sense.

I also thought the family's gratitude at the end was endearing. I caught Renee's humor and started to think she wasn't completely stupid (tho she sure seemed like it at times). The fact that she wanted to go to a bookstore warmed my LIS professor heart.

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On 3/22/2018 at 7:21 PM, aliya said:

Yet again we have an obesee who won't get a home health aide and makes family wait on them hand and foot.  Ha! I originally typed "hand and food." No kidding.

Somebody is getting what they want from this set up. You can't tell me that, even in Georgia, the state or county doesn't have someone who can come in - even if it's just during the day. 

I don't know what to call these people - they aren't the 'star' of the show, they aren't really part of a cast, etc. I'm going to call them the 'obesee' from now on unless someone has something better. 

Addict.  Seems apropos.  These are people who are addicted to food.   It's easy for some to wonder why they don't just stop, but an addict by any other name, is still an addict hooked on their drug of choice.  

Even a heroin or meth addict can get up and keep themselves away from the temptation to use their favorite drug, but a food addict cannot.  People have to eat to live.  No getting away from food.  Not ever. 

My heart goes out to them and the true nature of the seriousness of their situation.   I have seen some mean and nasty patients on this show, but most of them are probably the most sad, broken, and wounded spirits I've ever seen.   Even the mean ones. 

My heart breaks for those who just deny, deny, deny the issue and stay comforted in the deadly grip of their addiction.  They can be the most frustrating, because we can see the answer so very clearly, so we wonder....why can't they?  I am always truly happy for those who succeed and win when fighting against those overwhelming inner wars.  

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51 minutes ago, Claire Voyant said:

 I am always truly happy for those who succeed and win when fighting against those overwhelming inner wars.  

I am happy for the ones who follow medical advice (even if they stumble a time or two) and get their act together.  I am less charitable about the others than you are. Addicted or not, I get the very real feeling that they know what they are doing and are happy with it - even if it traumatizes their children, ruins their family, and sends them to an early grave. 

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I was skeptical of her at first but by the end she became one of my favorites. Her asking Dr. Now if he had slept well was golden.

From what was shown in the intro, I would bet that this episode deals with the greatest amount of poverty shown in this series. I may be in the minority, but I find it hard not to cut the family some slack. Tending to their obese mother was probably not the only strain or burden in their lives and they were probably the most at risk of losing their bare necessities if they had just cut their jobs and moved. It may seem callous, but some of her kids had kids of their own, and if they were as impoverished as their setting looked, I can't blame her family for possibly choosing their kids, or even simply themselves, over their mother, especially when they may have felt their mother to be unsalvageable.  Poverty sucks. (understatement)

 

Her early childhood... there are no words. Tragic. Even the mentally strongest of us would find it hard not to drown in depression and low self worth when that was your childhood. 

 

I don't understand the Lola hate. Okay, her voice isn't to everyone's liking, and at the start of this series she did come off a bit superficial in her mannerisms, but she never trivializes anyone's traumas and is always quick to validate a patient when they need to be. I mean, holy crap, anyone who has ever gone through any level of psychological therapy knows that establishing a relationship with a new therapist is very hard. The therapists have to come off as non-adversive as possible in the first few sessions, even if they may be dealing with patients drowning in denial or actively lying, because the most unhelpful thing to do to a patient is to make them never want to go near therapy again. Patients are usually going to therapy because they need it to heal and grow, and that doesn't happen in one session. 

Edited by sidka
grammar/spelling etc
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On 3/23/2018 at 7:05 PM, essexjan said:

I sat down and had a little play at the keyboard. A tune came into my head, a simple piano theme in a minor key.

When my friend came back in with the tea she said "that's a sad piece of music, what is it, Schubert?"

Me: "No, that's the tune they play on "My 600-lb Life" when the patient has put on weight and Dr. Now is mad at them."

Friend: "What. The. Fuck."

I just died laughing without life insurance.

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6 hours ago, aliya said:

Addicted or not, I get the very real feeling that they know what they are doing and are happy with it - even if it traumatizes their children, ruins their family, and sends them to an early grave. 

I hear what you're saying, and don't disagree, but I can never figure how this fits with just about all of them saying how much pain they're in, from the time they wake up.
There's a disconnect somewhere, between the cause and effect.

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I feel for Renee. That kind of background can derail you for life. 

This episode was super important because Dr. Now FINALLY addressed the question a lot of us have been asking forever, which is, why does he not get them therapy SOONER. He said that outcomes are better if the patient starts therapy AFTER surgery. And he was actually making an exception in Renee's case, even though it was not optimal for her outcome, because he felt she was so close to not making it. So that must be what the statistics bear out. It makes me respect him a lot more to have this answer.   

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5 hours ago, sidka said:

From what was shown in the intro, I would bet that this episode deals with the greatest amount of poverty shown in this series. I may be in the minority, but I find it hard not to cut the family some slack.

I didn't get that impression.  
I don't want to point out specific episodes, but there were a quite a few who seemed poorer.
Hey, she didn't take a "normal" career path, but she used what options were open to her, to  feed her family, and I can't hate for that.

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11 hours ago, aliya said:

I am happy for the ones who follow medical advice (even if they stumble a time or two) and get their act together.  I am less charitable about the others than you are. Addicted or not, I get the very real feeling that they know what they are doing and they are happy with it - even if it traumatizes their children, ruins their family, and sends them to an early grave. 

 

5 hours ago, auntjess said:

I hear what you're saying, and don't disagree, but I can never figure how this fits with just about all of them saying how much pain they're in, from the time they wake up.
There's a disconnect somewhere, between the cause and effect.

This is what addiction is - doing what makes you happy in the moment, despite the fact that it is unhealthy, hurts your loved ones, and makes you regret it as soon as you are done, just because it feels good at the time.  That's why it's so difficult for non-addicts to understand - because it doesn't make sense.

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On 3/23/2018 at 7:05 PM, essexjan said:

When my friend came back in with the tea she said "that's a sad piece of music, what is it, Schubert?"

Me: "No, that's the tune they play on "My 600-lb Life" when the patient has put on weight and Dr. Now is mad at them."

Friend: "What. The. Fuck."

You really should post this to the show's Facebook page, and the production company's webpage.  I bet the people who do the music would get a kick out of being mistaken for Schubert.

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1 minute ago, auntjess said:

You really should post this to the show's Facebook page, and the production company's webpage.  I bet the people who do the music would get a kick out of being mistaken for Schubert.

I will do that. I don't follow the Facebook page (there's just too much stuff on the internet), but I will take a shot at my five minutes of fame over there :-D

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One detail that stood out to me - when they showed her writing in her journal at the end of the episode, I noticed she had very neat hand-writing and there were a lot of long words on the page. 

She also made witty comments, and chose to go to a bookstore at the end.

I found these details interesting, and wonder if she has more going on than came across in this episode. I'm wondering if the extremely poor health and depression just made her seem less "with it" than she really is. Also, do we know if her upper teeth are missing? That could affect how much someone speaks/smiles.

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My curiosity got the better of me, and I found Reneé’s FB, which was in turn depressing and fascinating.  (Mods, delete if not allowed, but this is readily findable in about two minutes.) Things that shed some light on questions/comments here and in the live blog:

The trip to Houston occurred in late September 2017, with stops in Pensacola and Lake Charles.

One of the daughters apparently did come to Houston to stay with her.

The gentleman in the picture that was posted was not a boyfriend, but her uncle.  She loved him very much and was very sad that she was not able to see him one last time before he passed.

Not only is there squashing, but also smothering.  They were mentioned as two separate things.  Not researching it.

She had (I assume it’s inactive now, didn’t check) her own website for the squashing biz.

There’s more, but I don’t want to break any rules.  I like Reneé and wish her luck.

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Again, her ankles were not thin, it was a shadow, an optical illusion. I keep reading how thin her ankles are. No, they were blended into a shadow into the background so it looked liked a stick, rewatch and see. Normal sized ankles for an obese person. 

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46 minutes ago, calpurnia99 said:

Again, her ankles were not thin, it was a shadow, an optical illusion. I keep reading how thin her ankles are. No, they were blended into a shadow into the background so it looked liked a stick, rewatch and see. Normal sized ankles for an obese person. 

maybe some talented pounder can post a screen shot?

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I have never teared up before when Dr. Now approves someone for surgery, but I did watching Renee last night. It was like she'd had such a hard life that she'd trained herself to always expect bad news. The shock and excitement when he approved her was so heart wrenching. I was really happy for her, but also so sad for what she must have been through. Lola didn't bother me this time, she made some really good suggestions and she'd toned down the baby voice.

Renee did come across as not too bright at first, but I think she was in such poor health that she was simply out of it most of the time, plus some major depression going. As she got better, she seemed more intelligent. Her little jokes were quite witty and, as someone else pointed out, her handwriting was very nice in her journal and she seemed to have plenty to say.

I liked her son. He was very patient with her, all things considered, and very gracious with Dr. Now. I wish the family all the best.

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On 3/22/2018 at 9:13 PM, gardendiva said:

I refer to them as patients. Because besides being on a reality show, they are, at the core of this, patients of Dr. Now.

Yes. Sounds good to me. Sometimes your mind just misses the obvious. 

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